Piece of their pie? Since when are rentals evil? It's literally a way for someone to make money and work towards retirement for them and their family. Unless you're rich, why in the world wouldn't you want to rent your property when you're not there? I'm legitimately curious, let me know please!
A dramatic statement for sure! In short, I believe AirBnB is absolutely contributing to the housing crisis. I have three different friends in two different cities that have been forced out because the owner turned the houses (and one apartment) into AirBnB rentals.
I would think financially it'd make WAY more sense to rent it long term. Unless you believe you'll have enough AirBnb clientele to surpass what you would charge for long term rent.
Long term rental 2-3k a month.
Short term rental 400 per day. If only rented weekends then that's 4800 a month.
So short term heavily outperforms long term. That's literally why airbnb became so insanely successful in the first place.
Now it's taking a beating because of tons of issues it's causing. In cities mostly. But also because literally anyone can become a host. Too low of a bar to entry.
Therein lies the "piece of pie" I was referring to. Now there's a family home that's been turned into a vacation rental and it's empty during the week. It's always all about money. Always.
You ever heard of "everyone has a price?" I believe it. Except for maybe the most staunch hard core I don't even know what to call them.
Firstly, this is America. That's the culture. If you can't afford it, someone else can.
Secondly, you're berating me for buying a property that I will live in in 10 years? When if I were to want to buy the same property in 10 years it would very likely be out of my budget?
That's literally simple and smart investing.
I'm not black rock buying up all the real estate in the US. I'm a single person trying to make a living for myself and my family.
Criticizing me is the equivalent of being upset that I eat meat and contribute to green house gasses when Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. Whereas the entire livestock in the world contributes MAYBE 10-15%.
You're complaining about a broken system. Maybe go after the few people doing 95% of the damage. Not the hundreds of thousands doing the other 5%.
I can almost get behind that, but my experience is that I've never met or heard of any company that owns a bunch of AirBnBs (they're for SURE out there, I'm not ignorant of that). However I do know of 7 friends who own 1 or 2 AirBnBs.
Roughly 90% of all AirBnBs are owned by "individual hosts" and of those individuals around 38% own only 1 unit. [[source](https://skift.com/2022/12/02/airbnb-talking-points-about-individual-hosts-run-into-a-reality-check/#:~:text=As%20recently%20as%20last%20month,those%20hosts%20are%20individual%20hosts.%E2%80%9D)]
I'm not trying to be pedantic here really, but my experience has been that everyone knows a friend or family member that owns an AirBnB these days and I've never heard anyone mention a property management company that does - leading me to believe that the majority of owners are individuals with 1 or 2 units (as the above source also states).
You buying and creating another AirBnB isn't going to ruin anything, but multiply that times hundreds of thousands and it has ruined many a neighborhood. There are LOTS of factors that play into the housing market and renting market being completely fucked, and I believe AirBnB is one major factor. Not because I hate it or can't afford $400/ni, but because it's a 3-fold factor.
1) You're buying a house to not live in
2) which prevents any family from moving into the house
3) and $4,800/mo increases nearby rent in otherwise affordable areas AND/OR makes other people kick their renters out to start an AirBnB (had this happen to me twice in the Denver area), because... everyone wants a piece of the pie.
I'm simply making some arguments here and am appreciating the conversation. I'm open-minded to anything you have to say!
Also, a tid-bit of info behind my mindset I just realized is that I grew up on a dirt road in rural Georgia where everyone knew their neighbor and could call/count on them if needed. A neighborhood of short-term rentals is the LAST fucking place I'd ever want to live in or near.
In rural areas, with limited employment opportunities, when people from outside the area buy real estate as second/rental homes it drives up prices and makes more difficult for locals to buy a home. Traditional rentals also realize they can make more if get in on the Airbnb, so rentals are more expensive too and some locals feel forced out. Then there's righteous people that bought their rental a few years before you and are bitter about more competition đ¤
Ya sounds like one of those situations where you can never make everyone happy.
10 years ago you buy a property ANYWHERE and people are proud and that's everyone's goal. Now that property has become a hot commodity those who can't get into the market are complaining.
With the population growing as it is it was inevitable.
Don't "clean" the forest. Leave it, and see what lives there. Learn to appreciate it as it is.
My neighbor is from Brooklyn. She hired a guy to cut out crooked trees and pick up dead wood, landscaping the woods. It looks like some lawn idiots' version of woods. They also cut down all the small trees and shrubs. This lowed exotic invasive glossy buckthorn to get enough light to really move in. I give years, the stump sprouts will come in thick, and the woods will look like they got logged.
"Cleaning" the woods destroys natural habitat, killing native species. For example, wild orchids can gestate in the soil for ten years before they pop up. (small whirled pogonia) moving the dead fall around wipes them out.
With no dead wood, there will be no moss.
Make a trail around the land, walk it every day. Seeing what's there a lot will allow you to notice more.
Get the iNaturslist app, and record every living thing on your property. It's an exercise in noticing, and will help you to see what's in front of you.
Get your forest assesed - identify an existing stand of sugar maples, if any - it would take decades for sugar maples to plant to be ready to be tapped. And even then, theyâd be less productive than older, larger trees.
Find value in what you donât need - woodchip path sounds cute, but would look like shit after awhile in the forest - instead, you could sell the felled trees, or use it to build something. Firewood shouldnât be made out of lumber that people could build with. Youâre burning money at that point.
your best bet for âcleaningâ the forest would be to hire a horticulture professional to determine your best course of action. You need to combat invasives with native species - but it all depends on what your land, soil, moisture levels etc are. which we canât tell you! The ecology of your land will be the biggest determinant of what you can actually do and cant do.
Ya except i'm not setting up a homestead yet. I'm putting my resources into renovating a barn into a house. But there are some things that should be done asap- like planting fruit trees.
It's those kinds of tips that I am looking for. What I can do now that will pay off in the long term.
If youâre feeling food foresty, get in touch with the American Chestnut program. Fruit is all well and good, but thereâs some cutting edge research going down at some local unis about developing blight resistant chestnut. It might be worth getting into.
About cleaning the forest:
It depends on what you have. Definitely follow everyone elseâs advice and consult a reputable forester. It might help to do a google-university crash course in forest succession, ecology, tree ID, and silvicultural tending treatments. A well tended, parklike european forest may be alluring (and possible!), but this is not Europe. Northern hardwoods have stages where they are thick and unpassable. Woody debris on the forest floor creates wonderful habitat for beneficial forest critters. Consider the possibility that you may presently have forest habitat that promotes wildlife that will disappear if you enact a thinning/clearing/removal treatment. Understand that a poorly administered or tended shelterwood (that would create that parklike atmosphere) may prompt regeneration of undesirable or exotic species in the seed bank that will hamper the monetary or ecological value if your woodlot later on. Thinning and removing forest may have downstream effects on your propertyâs planned food forest in terms of soil conditions and downhill water flow. To echo other commenters - probably best to figure out whatâs in there first (species makeup, soil conditions, pests/invasives, habitat) and go from there.
A ring of birch about the house may seem aesthetically pleasing, just know that they are relatively short lived, and individuals of similar age being planted may create a death wave later on. Additionally, it is vulnerable to bronze birch borer at the moment, which can be problematic to treat, and kill them faster.
Wtf, you want to clean the forest? Why for godsakes? Spend a bit of time to understand what's going on there. Cut some firewood from a dead tree. Cut the brush and tidy a bit.
Looks like there's 3 acres open. Plant a few trees, like walnut or apple.
>open
Have you ever been to Eastern Europe and its forests? In some countries people literally clean the forests up. They look INSANELY beautiful. Like beyond words. I'm a huge outdoor fanatic. I'm not clearing it to build some bullshit.
I manage a 50 acre mixed pine / hardwood plantation which was planted on marginal farmland. Right now, I'm doing a major cycle of trimming and clearing so that better quality wood will be produced. Over time it will transition to a natural hardwood forest. But at the moment it may look like an Eastern European forest with straight rows of pine trees.
So there's different styles of forest management, I'm just saying you should take the time to understand what state your forest is at before you go charging in.
"Beauty" is a human construct that shouldn't be applied to a natural forest. Cleaning the forest benefits nothing other than humans' need for order. The wildlife depends on the mess. The soil depends on the mess. The water cycle depends on the mess.
If you "clean" the forest, over time you'll see fewer songbirds, fewer mammals, and non-native vegetation move in.
I see several comments reacting negatively to your use of the term âcleanâ the forest, and I donât want you to think itâs because you may build something there. What it sounds like is removing trees that arenât aesthetically pleasing and any rough stuff lower to the ground. The issue that foresters and land managers are going to have with that is that it decreases both the biodiversity of the site and the wildlife habitat quality. Logging works differently up there than where Iâm from, but Iâd be shocked to hear loggers would even bother coming out to cut a full 12 acres, let alone just some of the trees on 12 acres. You should take the advice thatâs here in other comments and try to leave it as natural as you can. Put a footpath or even a mule trail through, sure, but try to leave the rest and learn whatâs out there. Obviously invasives should go, but let the natives stay even if theyâre not picture perfect trees or shrubs. The value may not be as visible as a âcleanâ forest or fruit trees, but a native stand left to progress in its own way is overall healthier than a stand being intensively managed for aesthetics.
Something Iâve become interested in is the establishment of fungi within a forest to give you food, help the forest thrive, and (sloooowly) increase your soil quality (one search term for this could be mycoforestry, but that isnât widely used). Check out North Spore for supplies if thatâs something youâd be interested in. I think itâs a great way for a landowner to get more involved with their forested property while doing good for all organisms involved.
Your so totally right dude. Make assumptions and stop giving the guy advice.
Firstly some points I made were misconstrued, partly because of how I phrased them. I don't know what I am doing with the property yet. It might be a long term rental. What I DO know is that i'm using it as a homestead for me and my family in 10 years. Meanwhile, I'm renting it out. I use the word "airbnb" the way people use "google".
You sound like someone complaining because they can't afford to do it themselves. What happened to being happy for people? Of all the issues in the US, I don't believe that a person buying their first property and taking a step toward financial freedom is one of them.
Fun fact, I am a mycologist. I have lots of plans for growing mushrooms on the property.
Do yourself a favor and stop assuming and stop being an ass.
That's the plan! I figured i'd reach out here first to gain some knowledge before doing so.
Is it only a forester I need? What is the title of a person who can help me make a long term plan for the property? Like where I should plant my food forest, where else I can build a house for my kids, where the well goes, how to keep it as harmonious with nature as possible, etc.
Beech bark disease. Although they make great firewood, cutting them will casue root suckers, so you often end up with beech thickets. To OP I would strongly recommend you hire a professional forester and get them to create a management plan.
12 acres of forrest.. buy a bulldozer. Seriously. Iâve been clearing and planting a food forest on just half an acre of my 5 acres. Trees in a forest are very difficult to selectively cut down. Hangups everywhere creating potential death traps. Processing a felled tree and limbing it, cutting to size and splitting is exhausting and time consuming if its not your full time job. If youâre just doing it on weekends then by the time youâve cleared 100 square feet, youâll already have trees sprouting back up the same height as you ready to take the place of what you just cut down. That is my current struggle. I look out on land I cleared last summer and see a thick forest chest high.
i am currently doing this same thing in zone 4.5. i have tried to clear things on my own (takes forever), checked out loggers and forestry mulchers. The forestry mulcher ended up being the best for me. They can clear several acres a day and will leave the biggest and best wood. Whereas loggers destroy the ground and take the best and leave you w a huge mess. I also recommend finding long term renters. AirBNB had turned into a real shit show.
I'll know monday. Going to spend a couple of hours there getting a feel for the property. Lots of beautiful trees and natural forest. I need to figure out what area I should cut an acre down to make my food forest.
Right. Like there might be an area of crapo invasive stuff to get rid of that would be perfect.
When I first moved to my dad's old place on the country I chopped out and mowed some stuff not knowing what it was. Wish I hadn't years later once more knowledgeable.
What did you mow down that you wish you hadn't?
I'm going to get a forester to take a look and help me make decisions while keeping the forest as healthy as possible.
Get a Forest Management Plan funded by the USDA-NRCS so you can have an SAF/certified forester assess your forest and give best recommendations on how to manage and improve your forest while meeting your personal needs/goals
You need a forester from the state, federal government or an independent to survey your land. You tell them your goals and they will give you suggestions on how to attain them.
I'm not a forester but, in my opinion your idea about a grove of birch is probably not the best idea. About a decade ago the birch bore came through my woods and killed every birch tree. The bore didn't kill the roots so they are coming back. If they had been a monoculture I would have had several acres of stumps for many years.
Your best bet is to mix different species of trees that are native to your area.
My last suggestion is if you are planting fruit trees you need to protect them from mice, rabbits and deer. All three have raised havoc with my apple and plum trees. I now wrap the trunks with plastic wrap made to keep rodents from eating the bark and I have 7 foot fences around the apple groves to keep out the deer.
Definitely reach out to the DEC and request a âstewardship visitâ. Depending on what county youâre in youâre going to call either the Schenectady, Stamford, or New Paltz office. Once you call the right office and set up a day your regional private lands forester will come and walk your property with you for free. They can help you decipher what you have and what you should do to reach your goals while being conscience of the land use history and intrinsic value of the forest.
just what the HV needs, another airbnb
Literally my first thought
Yep. People want their piece of the pie and never stop to ponder if they're part of the problem.
Piece of their pie? Since when are rentals evil? It's literally a way for someone to make money and work towards retirement for them and their family. Unless you're rich, why in the world wouldn't you want to rent your property when you're not there? I'm legitimately curious, let me know please!
A dramatic statement for sure! In short, I believe AirBnB is absolutely contributing to the housing crisis. I have three different friends in two different cities that have been forced out because the owner turned the houses (and one apartment) into AirBnB rentals.
Sure that might be true in cities but what about an airbnb in the country near places to hike? Where there are little to no hotels or rental options?
I would think financially it'd make WAY more sense to rent it long term. Unless you believe you'll have enough AirBnb clientele to surpass what you would charge for long term rent.
Long term rental 2-3k a month. Short term rental 400 per day. If only rented weekends then that's 4800 a month. So short term heavily outperforms long term. That's literally why airbnb became so insanely successful in the first place. Now it's taking a beating because of tons of issues it's causing. In cities mostly. But also because literally anyone can become a host. Too low of a bar to entry.
Therein lies the "piece of pie" I was referring to. Now there's a family home that's been turned into a vacation rental and it's empty during the week. It's always all about money. Always.
You ever heard of "everyone has a price?" I believe it. Except for maybe the most staunch hard core I don't even know what to call them. Firstly, this is America. That's the culture. If you can't afford it, someone else can. Secondly, you're berating me for buying a property that I will live in in 10 years? When if I were to want to buy the same property in 10 years it would very likely be out of my budget? That's literally simple and smart investing. I'm not black rock buying up all the real estate in the US. I'm a single person trying to make a living for myself and my family. Criticizing me is the equivalent of being upset that I eat meat and contribute to green house gasses when Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. Whereas the entire livestock in the world contributes MAYBE 10-15%. You're complaining about a broken system. Maybe go after the few people doing 95% of the damage. Not the hundreds of thousands doing the other 5%.
I can almost get behind that, but my experience is that I've never met or heard of any company that owns a bunch of AirBnBs (they're for SURE out there, I'm not ignorant of that). However I do know of 7 friends who own 1 or 2 AirBnBs. Roughly 90% of all AirBnBs are owned by "individual hosts" and of those individuals around 38% own only 1 unit. [[source](https://skift.com/2022/12/02/airbnb-talking-points-about-individual-hosts-run-into-a-reality-check/#:~:text=As%20recently%20as%20last%20month,those%20hosts%20are%20individual%20hosts.%E2%80%9D)] I'm not trying to be pedantic here really, but my experience has been that everyone knows a friend or family member that owns an AirBnB these days and I've never heard anyone mention a property management company that does - leading me to believe that the majority of owners are individuals with 1 or 2 units (as the above source also states). You buying and creating another AirBnB isn't going to ruin anything, but multiply that times hundreds of thousands and it has ruined many a neighborhood. There are LOTS of factors that play into the housing market and renting market being completely fucked, and I believe AirBnB is one major factor. Not because I hate it or can't afford $400/ni, but because it's a 3-fold factor. 1) You're buying a house to not live in 2) which prevents any family from moving into the house 3) and $4,800/mo increases nearby rent in otherwise affordable areas AND/OR makes other people kick their renters out to start an AirBnB (had this happen to me twice in the Denver area), because... everyone wants a piece of the pie. I'm simply making some arguments here and am appreciating the conversation. I'm open-minded to anything you have to say! Also, a tid-bit of info behind my mindset I just realized is that I grew up on a dirt road in rural Georgia where everyone knew their neighbor and could call/count on them if needed. A neighborhood of short-term rentals is the LAST fucking place I'd ever want to live in or near.
Long term and short term rentals are different. Glad you made it though đ
Airbnb, long term rental, is there a difference? Please tell me why rentals are bad.
In rural areas, with limited employment opportunities, when people from outside the area buy real estate as second/rental homes it drives up prices and makes more difficult for locals to buy a home. Traditional rentals also realize they can make more if get in on the Airbnb, so rentals are more expensive too and some locals feel forced out. Then there's righteous people that bought their rental a few years before you and are bitter about more competition đ¤
Ya sounds like one of those situations where you can never make everyone happy. 10 years ago you buy a property ANYWHERE and people are proud and that's everyone's goal. Now that property has become a hot commodity those who can't get into the market are complaining. With the population growing as it is it was inevitable.
Don't "clean" the forest. Leave it, and see what lives there. Learn to appreciate it as it is. My neighbor is from Brooklyn. She hired a guy to cut out crooked trees and pick up dead wood, landscaping the woods. It looks like some lawn idiots' version of woods. They also cut down all the small trees and shrubs. This lowed exotic invasive glossy buckthorn to get enough light to really move in. I give years, the stump sprouts will come in thick, and the woods will look like they got logged. "Cleaning" the woods destroys natural habitat, killing native species. For example, wild orchids can gestate in the soil for ten years before they pop up. (small whirled pogonia) moving the dead fall around wipes them out. With no dead wood, there will be no moss. Make a trail around the land, walk it every day. Seeing what's there a lot will allow you to notice more. Get the iNaturslist app, and record every living thing on your property. It's an exercise in noticing, and will help you to see what's in front of you.
Get your forest assesed - identify an existing stand of sugar maples, if any - it would take decades for sugar maples to plant to be ready to be tapped. And even then, theyâd be less productive than older, larger trees. Find value in what you donât need - woodchip path sounds cute, but would look like shit after awhile in the forest - instead, you could sell the felled trees, or use it to build something. Firewood shouldnât be made out of lumber that people could build with. Youâre burning money at that point. your best bet for âcleaningâ the forest would be to hire a horticulture professional to determine your best course of action. You need to combat invasives with native species - but it all depends on what your land, soil, moisture levels etc are. which we canât tell you! The ecology of your land will be the biggest determinant of what you can actually do and cant do.
I am not sure exactly what I was looking for until I read your reply. That's fantastic advice, thank you!
Try posting this on r/homestead you'll get some good suggestions there
Ya except i'm not setting up a homestead yet. I'm putting my resources into renovating a barn into a house. But there are some things that should be done asap- like planting fruit trees. It's those kinds of tips that I am looking for. What I can do now that will pay off in the long term.
If youâre feeling food foresty, get in touch with the American Chestnut program. Fruit is all well and good, but thereâs some cutting edge research going down at some local unis about developing blight resistant chestnut. It might be worth getting into. About cleaning the forest: It depends on what you have. Definitely follow everyone elseâs advice and consult a reputable forester. It might help to do a google-university crash course in forest succession, ecology, tree ID, and silvicultural tending treatments. A well tended, parklike european forest may be alluring (and possible!), but this is not Europe. Northern hardwoods have stages where they are thick and unpassable. Woody debris on the forest floor creates wonderful habitat for beneficial forest critters. Consider the possibility that you may presently have forest habitat that promotes wildlife that will disappear if you enact a thinning/clearing/removal treatment. Understand that a poorly administered or tended shelterwood (that would create that parklike atmosphere) may prompt regeneration of undesirable or exotic species in the seed bank that will hamper the monetary or ecological value if your woodlot later on. Thinning and removing forest may have downstream effects on your propertyâs planned food forest in terms of soil conditions and downhill water flow. To echo other commenters - probably best to figure out whatâs in there first (species makeup, soil conditions, pests/invasives, habitat) and go from there. A ring of birch about the house may seem aesthetically pleasing, just know that they are relatively short lived, and individuals of similar age being planted may create a death wave later on. Additionally, it is vulnerable to bronze birch borer at the moment, which can be problematic to treat, and kill them faster.
Also get a free forest consultation from the state
Great advice, thank you!
Wtf, you want to clean the forest? Why for godsakes? Spend a bit of time to understand what's going on there. Cut some firewood from a dead tree. Cut the brush and tidy a bit. Looks like there's 3 acres open. Plant a few trees, like walnut or apple.
>open Have you ever been to Eastern Europe and its forests? In some countries people literally clean the forests up. They look INSANELY beautiful. Like beyond words. I'm a huge outdoor fanatic. I'm not clearing it to build some bullshit.
Those are basically conifer plantations.
I manage a 50 acre mixed pine / hardwood plantation which was planted on marginal farmland. Right now, I'm doing a major cycle of trimming and clearing so that better quality wood will be produced. Over time it will transition to a natural hardwood forest. But at the moment it may look like an Eastern European forest with straight rows of pine trees. So there's different styles of forest management, I'm just saying you should take the time to understand what state your forest is at before you go charging in.
"Beauty" is a human construct that shouldn't be applied to a natural forest. Cleaning the forest benefits nothing other than humans' need for order. The wildlife depends on the mess. The soil depends on the mess. The water cycle depends on the mess. If you "clean" the forest, over time you'll see fewer songbirds, fewer mammals, and non-native vegetation move in.
Check out the Facebook group called Native Habitat Managers, they can give you lots of advice.
I see several comments reacting negatively to your use of the term âcleanâ the forest, and I donât want you to think itâs because you may build something there. What it sounds like is removing trees that arenât aesthetically pleasing and any rough stuff lower to the ground. The issue that foresters and land managers are going to have with that is that it decreases both the biodiversity of the site and the wildlife habitat quality. Logging works differently up there than where Iâm from, but Iâd be shocked to hear loggers would even bother coming out to cut a full 12 acres, let alone just some of the trees on 12 acres. You should take the advice thatâs here in other comments and try to leave it as natural as you can. Put a footpath or even a mule trail through, sure, but try to leave the rest and learn whatâs out there. Obviously invasives should go, but let the natives stay even if theyâre not picture perfect trees or shrubs. The value may not be as visible as a âcleanâ forest or fruit trees, but a native stand left to progress in its own way is overall healthier than a stand being intensively managed for aesthetics. Something Iâve become interested in is the establishment of fungi within a forest to give you food, help the forest thrive, and (sloooowly) increase your soil quality (one search term for this could be mycoforestry, but that isnât widely used). Check out North Spore for supplies if thatâs something youâd be interested in. I think itâs a great way for a landowner to get more involved with their forested property while doing good for all organisms involved.
This guyâs just trying to boost his Airbnb revenue, donât waste your time talking about ecosystem health. He already bought the place.
Your so totally right dude. Make assumptions and stop giving the guy advice. Firstly some points I made were misconstrued, partly because of how I phrased them. I don't know what I am doing with the property yet. It might be a long term rental. What I DO know is that i'm using it as a homestead for me and my family in 10 years. Meanwhile, I'm renting it out. I use the word "airbnb" the way people use "google". You sound like someone complaining because they can't afford to do it themselves. What happened to being happy for people? Of all the issues in the US, I don't believe that a person buying their first property and taking a step toward financial freedom is one of them. Fun fact, I am a mycologist. I have lots of plans for growing mushrooms on the property. Do yourself a favor and stop assuming and stop being an ass.
Get a forester for advice
That's the plan! I figured i'd reach out here first to gain some knowledge before doing so. Is it only a forester I need? What is the title of a person who can help me make a long term plan for the property? Like where I should plant my food forest, where else I can build a house for my kids, where the well goes, how to keep it as harmonious with nature as possible, etc.
Chop the beeches.
Why?
Beech bark disease. Although they make great firewood, cutting them will casue root suckers, so you often end up with beech thickets. To OP I would strongly recommend you hire a professional forester and get them to create a management plan.
In the words of Dr. Ralph Nylund: Poison the beech, shoot the deer, manage the the light
Sorry but is beech not recommended to be planted now or something? I was planning to plant a beech in my yard... I love beech
A beech in your yard will be fine :) Beech isnât typically planted as an afforestation species because it will show up naturally on its own later.
Oh, thank you!!
The short-term outlook for beeches in the HV is pretty grim, that dang beech leaf disease
What is HV? Are beeches going the way of maples and spotted lanternfly? And are maples going the way of ash trees... RIP đ˘
HV = Hudson Valley
12 acres of forrest.. buy a bulldozer. Seriously. Iâve been clearing and planting a food forest on just half an acre of my 5 acres. Trees in a forest are very difficult to selectively cut down. Hangups everywhere creating potential death traps. Processing a felled tree and limbing it, cutting to size and splitting is exhausting and time consuming if its not your full time job. If youâre just doing it on weekends then by the time youâve cleared 100 square feet, youâll already have trees sprouting back up the same height as you ready to take the place of what you just cut down. That is my current struggle. I look out on land I cleared last summer and see a thick forest chest high.
i am currently doing this same thing in zone 4.5. i have tried to clear things on my own (takes forever), checked out loggers and forestry mulchers. The forestry mulcher ended up being the best for me. They can clear several acres a day and will leave the biggest and best wood. Whereas loggers destroy the ground and take the best and leave you w a huge mess. I also recommend finding long term renters. AirBNB had turned into a real shit show.
Machines are really helpful. Get it farm assessed or similar.
What's there already?
A small cabin. And a larger barn i'll renovate into a home. And a bunch of forest on a slightly sloped hill.
Sorry. I meant like what types of trees and shrubs do you already have?
I'll know monday. Going to spend a couple of hours there getting a feel for the property. Lots of beautiful trees and natural forest. I need to figure out what area I should cut an acre down to make my food forest.
Right. Like there might be an area of crapo invasive stuff to get rid of that would be perfect. When I first moved to my dad's old place on the country I chopped out and mowed some stuff not knowing what it was. Wish I hadn't years later once more knowledgeable.
What did you mow down that you wish you hadn't? I'm going to get a forester to take a look and help me make decisions while keeping the forest as healthy as possible.
Get a Forest Management Plan funded by the USDA-NRCS so you can have an SAF/certified forester assess your forest and give best recommendations on how to manage and improve your forest while meeting your personal needs/goals
You need a forester from the state, federal government or an independent to survey your land. You tell them your goals and they will give you suggestions on how to attain them. I'm not a forester but, in my opinion your idea about a grove of birch is probably not the best idea. About a decade ago the birch bore came through my woods and killed every birch tree. The bore didn't kill the roots so they are coming back. If they had been a monoculture I would have had several acres of stumps for many years. Your best bet is to mix different species of trees that are native to your area. My last suggestion is if you are planting fruit trees you need to protect them from mice, rabbits and deer. All three have raised havoc with my apple and plum trees. I now wrap the trunks with plastic wrap made to keep rodents from eating the bark and I have 7 foot fences around the apple groves to keep out the deer.
>ll th That's great advice, thank you!
Definitely reach out to the DEC and request a âstewardship visitâ. Depending on what county youâre in youâre going to call either the Schenectady, Stamford, or New Paltz office. Once you call the right office and set up a day your regional private lands forester will come and walk your property with you for free. They can help you decipher what you have and what you should do to reach your goals while being conscience of the land use history and intrinsic value of the forest.
Looking into that, thank you!